The Fairline Holiday Club Rally

 

 

This has been written by Barbara of 'Spirit of Avalon' and is really just 'a page from my diary'

so to speak.  Any other boat attending the rally would probably have a very different story to

tell, but this is ours.

 

 

 

Well for us the rally started last year, as an idea we put to Gary and Tony towards the end of the summer.  Membership was growing, particularly on the Broads, and we felt it would be good to have something to aim for in the start of the next season.  We formulated a plan to incorporate a sea-trip so that any novices could make their initial trip in company, with the peace of mind that that brings.   Come the spring, we started to make the reservations etc.   We ran over it all so many times, it soon felt that we'd done it all already. 

 

Steve spent most of May working on not only Spirit, but four other boats as well - 'Henley' and 'Atriona' among them.  For my own part, I was on boat-cleaning duty; I even made a comment to Gary about having to bring his sunglasses no matter what the weather!  We spent a couple of weekends away on the boat to ensure everything was ok, and had taken her for a good test across Breydon Water to ensure that nothing nasty was likely to happen at sea - I mean, what could possibly be more embarrassing??…  We also went riding round in the car, putting introductory letters and rally information in the cockpits of the other Holidays we know of on the Broads in the hope that they could join us, even for just a part of the weekend.

 

 

Before we start with the story of the weekend proper (or at least, our perspective of it), I think its important that we name all the folk involved and their respective boats - so, in alphabetical order we have -

 

Atriona              (Freeman 22)                 Vic & Anne

Beagle              (Sterling Sabre 28)         Mike, Christine & Christopher

Beau Vallon       (Fairline Holiday Mk 1)    Tony & Sheila

Buccaneer II      (Fairline Holiday Mk 3)    Mr & Mrs Parry

Cabriolet           (Fairline Sun Fury)         Steve, Jo & family (sorry, didn't get all your names) 

Cappella            (Westerly Yacht)            Colin & Sharon

Footsteps          (Fairline Weekender)      Jim

Givenin              (Fairline Carrera)            Adam, Lynda & Daniella

Henley              (Princess 32)                 Dave and Jenny ('The Henley Arms')

Jasmara            (Fairline Holiday Mk 2)    ??

JoJo                  (Fairline Holiday Mk 2)    Ian & Sarah

Moonfleet          (Fairline Vixen)              Anthony & Lynne

Osprey              (Fairline Holiday Mk 2)    Gary & Angie

Rebecca           (Falcon 22 SPC)            Steve & Chris 

Spirit of Avalon   (Fairline Holiday Mk 1)    Steve & Barbara

 

 

 

Friday 28th May

As soon as I finished work we headed straight for Spirit in order to take her round to Brooms for a fill-up before they closed. This done, we just dropped her back at the mooring and went off to do the last-minute things before getting her organised. 

We came back to her in the early evening, along with 'Atriona' to prepare for the weekends adventures.  The 'Henley Arms' was already open for business when we arrived so we joined them in a bevy, while we were waiting for Colin & Sharon on ‘Cappella’ to turn up.  They were making up to us from their own mooring at Thorpe that evening, so that the five of us ('Henley', 'Cappella', 'Atriona', 'JoJo' & ourselves) could all travel down in convoy on Saturday.  ‘Cappella’ soon arrived and by about 7.30 the eight of us were all happily ensconced in 'The Yare', getting the weekend off to a flying start.  The conversations that evening encompassed many things, including Colin's view that it was bad luck to have bananas on a boat - none of the rest of us had heard this before so we decided it must be a sail-boat thing!

 

Saturday 29th May

Saturday dawned over-castly,,,  the weather forecast for the whole weekend was dire and we were desperately hoping that it would prove to be wrong, at least in part.  We were aiming for a bbq on Saturday afternoon, and really didn’t want that to be rained off.

 

We had set the deadline of 8.45 for cast-off, but by that time there was no sign of JoJo.  We held on for fifteen minutes or so, but then had to make way in order to get to the Waveney in time to greet everyone else as they arrived.

 

So just after nine, the four of us set off from Brundall on our merry way.   All went well for ooh, must've been a whole mile.  Then we tried to talk to Atriona only to find that their comms were down.  They don’t have vhf as yet, but they have a pair of two-way radio's and we had one of the handsets.  However, we overcame that little glitch with the trusty mobile phone. 

Atriona weren't able to join us for the whole weekend, as Vic was working on Sunday, but they came as far as Reedham with us where we all pulled onto the quay for a very quick cuppa before moving off, leaving Atriona to return to the Reedham Ferry where they would moor up, join the rest of the group for the meal there on Sunday night and then return to Brundall on Monday.  We waved them off and filmed their departure, then the remaining three of us set off south to the Waveney.  As we pulled away from the quay, it was time for the second problem to raise its head  - Dave ('Henley') lost his starboard engine.  His starboard engine control locked solid so he just switched that engine off completely and trundled on with one engine, and the promise that Steve would help him to try and sort it out once we reached the Waveney. 

 

Once we reached the Southern end of the New Cut we called to Steve & Chris on 'Rebecca' to see what they were up to.  They were already moored at Somerleyton and were going to join up with Steve & Jo on 'Cabriolet' for the run down.  We told them of Daves problem & asked about the swing-bridge, as if it was closed we would have stopped there, just to see if a  'quick-fix' for the problem was possible.  However the bridge was open and Dave was managing with one engine, so he made the decision that as the Waveney was only forty minutes or so away, he would carry on.

 

We waved our way past Steve & Chris, and headed to the Waveney.   We were just reaching the 'Beccles' turn, when what should we see coming up Oulton Dyke but two Fairline Holidays, in the shape of 'Osprey and 'Beau Vallon''.  So then we were five as we made to the Waveney.

 

We had reserved the area directly behind the shop, and as we drew up to the marina we saw that the 'our' space was indeed completely empty with all the 'reserved mooring' signs out.   The opposite side of the marina was taken up with The SeaMaster Club who were also holding their rally there.  They had bunting up, and a big sign draped right across the bows of two of the boats… not that we were bitter at all!  Dave had asked us to moor up first, in order that we could catch his ropes, as he wouldn’t have much steering-control.  As soon as he drew alongside he switched his engine off, and we manoeuvred him round on the ropes.  As he has a couple of great stern-drives, mooring stern-on is really a no-no, so we put him right in the corner where he could moor side-on.  Colin and Sharon then rafted onto him, as stern-on is difficult for them too, and we were next in line.    All the while, 'Osprey' and 'Beau Vallon' had been pirouetting in the marina, waiting for us to sort ourselves out, then they pulled along-side.  

 

As soon as we'd tied off, Steve jumped onto 'Henley', and he and Dave were soon engrossed in sorting out the problem, with input (not to mention WD40) from Colin and Gary.  They did get the problem fixed, at least in the short-term, by taking the throttle control box apart and freeing the mechanism & cables.  When I looked in the cockpit, Dave was lying on the floor with his arm up the helm control, trying to screw something into a bit that Steve was holding from above.  It all looked complicated and more than a little fraught, so I left them to it!

 

Very soon we saw a maroon Shogun pulling into the car-park, trailing a Fairline Vixen called 'Moonfleet' - obviously Anthony and Lynne had arrived.   They made for the slipway and started their launching procedure.   Steve had been particularly keen to see this, as he'd been in touch with Anthony during the preceding week and Anthony had described that launching from his 'Super Rollercoaster' was a one-man job.  However, as Steve was still involved with sorting 'Henley' out I went over to greet them, along with Tony and Gary.

 

Now comes the fun part - Anthony reversed the Shogun but was a bit tight to one side of the slipway, so he pulled forward and had another go, then another, and another after that.  Eventually he was happy that he was actually in the very centre of the slipway without having to resort to a micrometer and began his 'one man job'.  He clambered up onto the bow of the boat, then made his way round to the helm.   'Moonfleet's' stern was happily in the water and he started the engine, only to quickly turn it off again, saying that the water was too shallow (it was getting near low tide) and the prop was catching on the ground.    By this time Steve and Dave had come over, and they, Tony & Gary suggested that maybe Anthony could reverse the Shogun a bit more just to give some more clearance, and this was done.  Back to the helm he went, started the engine only for the boat to judder on the trailer and a knocking noise could be heard.  No, he protested, the prop was definitely fouling, and would be damaged now… - his face was a picture.  It was even more of a picture when Dave pointed out that the boat was still strapped to the trailer, and that the noisy judder wasn’t the prop at all.   It was 'Moonfleet' trying to make her way into the water, but pulling on the strap every time.  Of course, as soon as the strap was undone, she just reversed straight off the trailer like a dream but I think Anthony found it a bit more like a nightmare actually.  His face was more than a little pink!  Isn't it always the way that things you do normally do automatically become so much more difficult when you have an audience?   It certainly served to break the ice anyway, and Anthony & Lynne made their way around to the marina and rafted up to us as they were another one who couldn’t stern-moor.    From that point it all gets a little confused - everyone was mingling and chatting, and I think it was Steve, or it may have been Gary, that called out 'here comes the Carrera'.  I know we all watched 'Givenin' come and moor up in good style, and introduced ourselves to Adam and Lynda. By this time the SeaMaster Club on the other side of the marina were starting to show an interest in us, as our numbers started to swell.  They may have had a nice sign proclaiming who they were, but we had style!    As lots of introductions and conversations were now taking place along the quay, the combined vhf sets boomed out that JoJo was just around the corner.  We were so pleased to hear from them, as we'd thought that morning that something had happened and they'd had to bail out - it turned out to be just traffic and so they weren't that far behind us.   As they were on virgin territory only just having got the boat, a couple of us walked out to the marina entrance in order to guide them in, film them and take ropes.  By now we were getting quite excited at the prospect of all these boats turning up.  Then we heard from Steve on 'Rebecca' that they were approaching with 'Cabriolet'.   They let 'Cabriolet' moor in first, then tried to moor themselves, only to get their leg stuck in the mud a couple of feet from the bank.  They threw their anchor down and just decided to stay where they were for a while  - not that they really had much choice in the matter!  And now we were ten….   I wandered around the marina to take some film and pictures of all these boats moored up, and was in the middle of doing so when I heard a shout of 'here comes Beagle' and our final boat had arrived.  We were so pleased that everyone had made it, we had no no-shows and everyone seemed to be getting along like a house afire.  Each boat cockpit was laden with alcohol , barbecues were on the go all the way along the quayside - even the three ships-dogs (Midge, Bobby and Tilly) were getting along! 

At one point I took a photograph of the back of 'Cabriolet', with its engine-hatched raised and five heads peering down in admiration - three Steves, a Gary and a Tony!  All too soon it was 4pm, and Gary & Angie and Tony & Sheila ('Osprey' & 'Beau Vallon' respectively) departed to make their way through Mutford Lock.  They would rejoin us the next day at Lowestoft.  But having waved them off, the rest of us carried on regardless,,,, Certainly for Steves & my part, it was a case of wandering from boat to boat chatting to people and being plied with alcohol at every location - not so much a pub-crawl as a quayside one!  What we did notice however was that everyone else seemed to have eaten.  We kept moving towards getting our own barbecue going, but somehow it was gone six before we managed it - too much going on and too much to say!    However the crowd pretty much followed us and as we set up our patented barbecue on the ground behind Spirits cockpit, a semi-circle encompassing the area from 'Moonfleet' to 'Henley' formed on the grass.  All we needed was someone to start singing ''Kumbya''!   There seemed to be beer and wine flowing from every direction, and everyone was animated and interested.  There were people hopping on and off boats, folk sitting and munching, and considering how many people there were who maybe only knew one other party, or hadn't met any of the others before, it was amazing how easily conversation was flowing. 

 

We were all thankful that the weather had held out  - it was actually becoming a really pleasant afternoon after a bit of dull start to the day, which was great for everyone sitting out chewing the fat and enjoying the afternoon. 

It was round about this time that Anthony on 'Moonfleet' asked where he could top up with petrol in the morning, as while he knew he had enough for the sea trip itself he wasn’t sure how far away the Reedham Ferry was, knowing that he would have to return from there to the Waveney on Monday in order to retrieve  'Moonfleet' and return home.   Unfortunately the only place for petrol in the locale was the Waveney itself, and they had already closed for the night.    The sea-going group would be leaving the marina at 8am the next day and it was unlikely that the fuel berth would be open at that time, so we asked Vic (of 'Atriona') to get a couple of jerry-cans of petrol and bring them down to the Reedham Ferry with him on Sunday in order that Anthony could at least top-up there.

 After a while, the 'twilight takeaway cruise' started to get mentioned pretty heavily - those who had eaten earlier were obviously starting to feel the pangs and were eager to make way.  So out came the copies of the menu from the Chinese Takeaway in Oulton Broad, and while we were passing those around we passed on the 'useful info' sheets and chart-copies as well. 

Adam and Lynda on 'Givenin' had their daughter Daniella with them for the day, but were dropping her off back to Nanny and Grandad that evening, as they were going to sea the next day and didn’t want her to be scared. They were therefore going into Oulton anyway. Anthony and Lynne in 'Moonfleet' were going in, as were Steve and Chris on 'Rebecca', who were taking Steve and Jo from 'Cabriolet' as well.  As 'Henley' was moored in the corner with ‘Capella’ rafted up to it, we thought that rather than disturb them, we would take Dave and Colin down on Spirit as we were making the run as well.  And we had an additional passenger in the shape of Christopher from 'Beagle' who asked if he could join us for the run down.  His parents used to own a Mark Three Holiday and he wanted another ride on one.  Hence at just after 8pm, eight crews on four boats departed the Waveney to make for Oulton Broad.

Now when Steve had spoken to Peter, the assistant Harbour Master at Oulton Broad earlier in the week, Peter had agreed that we could moor one or maybe two boats to the dayboat-side of the finger pontoon as a temporary measure only.  So the four boats set merrily off, with 'Givenin' and 'Rebecca' leading the way, then us, then 'Moonfleet'.    When we reached Oulton, 'Givenin' had made over to where they'd arranged to drop Daniella off, and we waved 'Rebecca' and 'Moonfleet' to the arranged temporary mooring.  We then spotted a Spirit-sized-space in the public harbour, and made for that ourselves, only to be faced with a very angry harbour master when we got there.  In no uncertain terms did he ask us what we were playing at, sending four boats into HIS broad, when we'd agreed two.  Well when we told him that only two boats were going to moor there anyway, as one was going to a different location and we were just dropping people off, he did calm down.  Then he confessed that he'd already had a go at 'Moonfleet' and 'Rebecca', and hurried round to apologise to them.  Evidently 'Givenin' had approached the mooring area and turned away, and the harbour master thought that they wanted to moor there also; he had made special arrangements with the day-boat company on our behalf, and was severely miffed at what he thought was us taking advantage of him. However he did have the good grace to apologise straight away to everyone once the situation was explained, and all was well.

The various crew members made their way ashore to collect their takeaways and came hot-footing it back with carrier bags of food.  Our passengers returned first so we made a getaway in order to get them back with a chance of their food remaining hot.  By the time we got back our cabin smelt like a Chinese takeaway, as we'd had the heater blasting out straight onto the food containers - we were still stuffed from our barbecue, but the smell was delicious.  'Givenin' returned shortly after us, then we waited for 'Rebecca' and 'Moonfleet' to return.  Evidently they had a bit of fun on the way back - 'Rebecca' was leading the way and Steve decided to just nip round a bend and turn his lights off!  They didn’t hide for long and we soon saw both 'Rebecca' and 'Moonfleet' cruising down towards the marina..  Those nice people in the SeaMaster club put their lights on to help 'Rebecca' and 'Moonfleet' moor up, as by the time they returned it was completely dark.  Jo and Steve from 'Cabriolet' had gone out with Steve & Chris on 'Rebecca', leaving their four teenagers aboard.  They evidently returned to a distinct lack of beer and four sleepy bodies - a good time had by all then!

The quiet chatting and drinking continued along the quay, and eventually peace and sleep overcame us all - after all, we had an early start the next day.

 

 

Sunday 30th May

Everyone was up and about nice and early and all engines were running by 7.55.   Just to recap, the boats setting off were:-

'Henley', 'Cappella', 'Spirit of Avalon', 'Moonfleet', 'Givenin', 'Cabriolet', 'Rebecca' and 'Beagle'.  'Osprey' and 'Beau Vallon' were already in Lowestoft and would meet up with the rest of the group in the outer-harbour.    The only boat left behind was 'Jo-Jo' and they were making their own way up the rivers to the Berney Arms where they would meet up with the rest of the group.

 

Duly at 8am we filtered out of the marina and may our way to Oulton Broad - we were milling around at the lock along with a couple of individual boats when the lock keeper advised that he already had a couple of large cruisers in but could put a couple of our boats through with them.  He would then lock the rest of the motor-cruisers, leaving the yachts ('Cappella' and the private one) till last so that he only had to raise the bridge the once.  Accordingly we waved 'Moonfleet' and 'Givenin' to go through into the current lock, and watched the gates close behind them.  So the rest of us are sitting waiting in Oulton Broad for that lock to go through and be refilled for the next batch.   As soon as those lock gates opened, the private yacht went for it; he wasn’t going to wait behind smelly old cruisers, he was going NOW.  Not to be outdone, our own representative of the WAFI community (if you don’t know what it means, ask someone!) went for it also, and between them they took the lock in a pincer movement!  The lock keeper gave in and said 'Oh ok, Ill take the yachts first and squeeze the rest of you around them'  which is what happened.   The others went through, leaving 'Rebecca', 'Cabriolet' and ourselves for the last lock.     In the middle of all this, an ambulance was trying to get through so the lock-keeper had to lower and re-raise the road-bridge, so we took much longer to lock through than anticipated.  In the meantime we were on the radio to Gary & Tony who were moored down at Lowestoft, advising them that the first party of boats was on its way towards them.  The lock keeper had asked for us to start locking at 8.30 in order to catch the 9.30 harbour-bridge-lift but as we went through on that last lock we were told 'don’t hang about if you want to catch that bridge, and by the way one of your boats has broken down’. At this parting shot we waved 'Rebecca' and 'Cabriolet' onward, advising them to make haste for the bridge, while we went over to see what was up with 'Givenin'.  It transpired that one of their engines wouldn’t re-start when leaving the lock, but Adam soon got it going again and we were ready to leave that mooring within just a couple of minutes.  That’s when we turned and saw Colin and Sharon from the yacht 'Cappella' walking towards us asking when they should look to leave these moorings?  We said 'you should be down the other end of the lake now, otherwise you'll miss the bridge' to which a suitable reply could be heard, and they made haste back to 'Cappella'.   They hadnt originally intended to spend the whole weekend with us, just joining us for the trip thus far, but had had a change of plan and now needed to catch up with the rest of the group.

For our own part, ‘Givenin’ and we cast off and made for the bridge.   It was a very unhappy radio call we had from 'Cappella' asking what they should do, as the bridge had just closed right in front of them.  Lowering their mast wasn’t an option, so the only choices they had were to head straight back for the lock and go up the broads, or wait for the 11.15 bridge to go out to sea.  As it was, Tony and Gary had advised that visibility at the coast was dropping and they were rounding everyone up in the Royal Norfolk & Suffolk Yacht Club (RNSYC)  to regroup and make a decision on what we were going to do.  So we advised Cappella to hold station till we got through to the coast and we would keep in touch to advise what was going on.

Most of the rest of the group were in the RNSYC and we decided to take a look out to sea for ourselves, in order to get a feeling for the conditions for ourselves.   'Rebecca' was already out there, Steve & Chris being unable to resist the chance of having a play, and quite honestly the sea itself was great  - a little bouncy but we've certainly seen it worse.  The visibility was down to about a mile and a half but it was particularly grey and murky, though warm.  If it had been just us we would have gone straight away, but with a group to think about we decided to head back to the RNSYC just for a while to see how things developed and make a firm decision in an hour or so.   This also gave Cappella a chance to decide whether they wanted to head for the sea or not, giving them the chance of going through the 11.15 bridge.   However, it meant that our 12.00 booking for Haven Bridge at Yarmouth was jeopardised, so we made a quick call to them to let them know the group was delayed. 

By the time 11am arrived it was distinctly brighter in the harbour, and it felt like the sun was burning through the low cloud.   'Osprey' and 'Beau Vallon' went out first and Tony & Gary called back to say that the view up the coast was brighter too, and so a unanimous vote said: lets go for it.  All wagons rolled out of the harbour and made for the open sea.  'Cappella' had decided not to follow through, as they would be slow up the coast and may not make the Haven Bridge lift.  Instead they decided they would prefer to make their way back through the lock and join the rest of the group at the Reedham Ferry. 

 

We were a happy group of boats as we made our way out of the harbour -  We had hung back in the outer harbour waiting for 'Cabriolet' as the last boat out, and were richly rewarded by seeing them just thrust those throttles forward and leave us for dust!  So much for being a novice then…  So we were bringing up the rear of the group in order that we could pick up any stragglers along the way, or turn back with anyone who had a problem or was uncomfortable with the movement.  The so called novices of the group were up and gone like flashes in the night - 'Rebecca' finally had some competition in the shape of 'Givenin', 'Cabriolet' and 'Moonfleet' and they were all off having a great time.  I got some good video of unidentifiable boats coming toward us, bows raised and tearing along - just like an aftershave ad!  And we were pootling along with Beagle and Henley when we suddenly didn’t hear a noise, then we did, then we didn’t.  The all-important noise that we were and weren’t hearing was the engine as it was coughing and spluttering all over the place.  We radioed Gary on 'Osprey' to advise that we were going to turn back and try to make Lowestoft, though we didn’t think the engine would last that long.   By this time we were about 2 1/2 miles out of the harbour, and obviously everyone in the group heard that transmission.  Dave said he would come back with us, 'Henley' being big enough to give us a tow if the engine did expire.  He came and took position on our starboard side, Gary turned as well and flanked our port side, and Tony on 'Beau Vallon' brought up the rear. It was great to have moral support like that, so reassuring. 

 

The rest of the group had carried on to Yarmouth, with 'Rebecca' and 'Beagle' as the experienced parties taking over the responsibility for radio work etc.  Steve on 'Rebecca' later told us that when we called and asked him to share the lead into Yarmouth he was right at the rear of the group and had to put his foot down; we knew we were playing to his strengths as its not for nothing that he's known as Mad Max!

 

Back to us now - we were being thrown about quite considerably as we had virtually no power - we were lucky to see 3 miles per hour on our display and that trip back to Lowestoft seemed never-ending.  Three times the engine died right out and almost miraculously came back.  We were extremely tense and quite honestly, not a little frightened.  It really brought home to us the importance of travelling in company - we certainly won’t be making any lone voyages after that experience. Steve was constantly adjusting the throttle to try and keep us moving as the engine surged and backed off all the time.  Poor old Spirit sounded very sick and Steve stripped out the cockpit (as we have to do) in order to lift the engine cover and get easy access when it stopped completely, which is quite honestly what we anticipated happening.    We were in touch with Gary and Dave on the radio all the time, and they were holding station beside us.  At one point Dave said he would accompany us alone if Gary & Tony wanted to go back up the coast with the others, but I have to admit I turned and virtually pleaded with them not to leave us.  I don’t know what I expected them to do, but I wanted them there!  I can't express enough how reassuring it was to be surrounded by friends in our hour of need.

Steve called Lowestoft Harbour when we were about 1Km away and told them we had a severe problem, very little steerage, were being accompanied by three other boats, and that we anticipated being towed in.  They were brilliant - they just asked that we keep in touch to let them know our progress and that they would halt all movement in the port until we were in.  We heard yachts asking for clearance and being told to hold station as there was a boat coming in with engine failure.  It just goes to prove that the system really does work.  As we drew nearer to the harbour Steve called them again and advised that we did still have some power, but very little manoeuvrability and so mooring could be difficult - they agreed that once we got into the protection of the outer harbour we could try manoeuvring there and if we had problems we could latch onto Henley then let them moor in the RNSYC with us already rafted alongside.  As it was we were able to moor under our own steam, and we were met by Dave & Lynn from 'Diamond Lil' who moor in the RNSYC all the time.  We’d met up with them a couple of years ago and they introduced us to the wonders of GPS etc.  They'd been listening on 6 all the while and when they'd heard that initial call we made to Gary they'd arranged for the club rescue boat to be put on standby for us - how nice is that???

 

Once we were moored up, Steve got the tools & spares out, changed the points and condenser and all was well.  Gary & Tony were going to head back up the coast and invited us to run up with them, but we thought it would be much more sensible for us to run back up the rivers toward Reedham.   Although Spirit was running fine by now, we'd quite honestly lost confidence and didn’t want to risk having a problem again - that would've looked REALLY stupid now wouldn't it?  

So we waved goodbye to Gary and Tony as they made off to catch up with the rest of the group.  By this time we'd received a call from Mike on 'Beagle' to say that everyone was safely through Yarmouth and heading for the Berney Arms; they'd done probably ten miles or so in the time it had taken us to do two. 

'Henley' had been in contact with 'Cappella' - (remember them, still stuck between the lock and the bridge??)  and let us know that Colin had booked three places in the 1:30 lock so that we could all journey up together.  So very shortly we left the RNSYC and made back up Lake Lothing toward the lock.  We reached the new marina at about 1 and decided to moor in there for the half-hour or so before the railway bridge would open for 'Cappella' to proceed to the lock.   When it came time to start engines again, Spirit was behaving exactly as she'd behaved at sea, surging and spluttering all over the place.  We went to the lock and asked permission to leave the engine running while in there, as we felt if we turned it off we mayn't get it started again.   By this time we were starting to calm down a bit; the shaking had stopped and I felt it was a good opportunity to have something to bring the sugar-levels up.   So there I was, sitting on the bow of the boat in the lock, eating a banana.  You should have heard the uproar from 'Cappella' as Sharon squealed that bananas on boats must definitely be unlucky!

We were looking to just make for the Waveney in order for Steve to have another go at sorting out the engine problem (boy we were glad we hadn't joined  Tony & Gary out at sea).   Being a Sunday afternoon there was motor-racing on Oulton Broad and the lock keeper advised that we should keep to the marked channel up the side of the broad and go straight there.  Well when we came out of the lock we made to do this, only to have a jumped-up floating traffic-warden come and tell us we'd have to wait for the racing to finish, they were holding all boats up.   At which point Steve said that we have an engine problem, we don’t know how long its going to last out and we need to get somewhere to moor up - how long is the racing going to go on for?  To which we got the reply 'don’t know', but you still cant go up the broad.  So we made for the floating pontoon at the edge of the private harbour to moor there.  We were tied on, and Henley was just coming in behind us when the harbour master appeared, asking us quite strongly if we'd booked.  We said no, we had an engine problem….By this time Steve was near to explosion point - the lock keeper had said 'go over there', the man over there had said 'you cant come here' and now this man was trying to tell us we couldn’t stay there either.  He just switched the engine off, opened the hatch and started tearing things apart with that ‘go on, make me move’ look about him!.  It was at this point that Peter appeared - he's the assistant harbour master that we'd booked the temporary mooring with and who'd misunderstood our intentions the night before - well he put in a good word for us so we were allowed to stay.  But they made ‘Henley’ and ‘Cappella’ leave.   The good thing was that when we explained about the little ayatollah in his dinghy, the harbour master said ''oh ignore him, I’m telling you to go – I’ll soon sort him out!''.   So at that point we parted company from ‘Henley’ and ‘Cappella’, with the promise to keep in touch by radio.  Dave offered that if we needed them to they would come back and tow us up.  But by now the harbour master had calmed down and said if we couldn’t get going again he'd sort us out a place to leave the boat so we could get a train home.  By the time Steve had changed to another set of points and condenser (now the third of the weekend) he was becoming quite friendly - he and Peter were standing on the quay chatting to us and when we were ready to go they told the ayatollah he had to let us pass too!  So we left Oulton Broad in quite high spirits and headed north for Reedham Ferry.

Spirit behaved herself all the way up, you wouldn’t have known it was the same boat as earlier on, or the same day for that matter.  The sun had really come out and it was turning into a beautiful afternoon - happily the weather forecasters had got it completely wrong. 

We didn’t push it at all on the journey north, just let Spirit journey steadily onward and soon we were coming up the New Cut.   By that point we were in radio range of the others and we soon heard the state of play - Henley and Cappella had headed straight for Reedham Ferry and were just about to moor there and 'police the area' to make sure the reserved moorings were safe.   'Rebecca', 'Cabriolet' and 'Moonfleet' were busy charging around Breydon Water having a last minute play, and the rest of the group had just managed to drag themselves away from the Berney Arms and were heading towards Reedham.   As we neared the Reedham end of the New Cut, we looked over the marsh to our right and saw that wonderful sight, a club burgee flying proud from the aerial of 'JoJo'.  As we entered the River Yare, 'JoJo' and 'Givenin' were just behind us, and in front of us we saw the familiar shape of another Fairline Holiday.  This time it was 'Buccanneer II', a brown Mark Three which moors in Reedham and we'd put a note through the canopy of a couple of weeks ago.  They'd obviously decided to join up with us, which was lovely.  We filmed away, glad to be part of the group again, and to have three Holidays in line-astern was great.  Soon we were at the Reedham Ferry and it was time we could finally switch that engine off and relax.    All of a sudden there were boats everywhere - 'Atriona' was there already from the previous morning (and didn’t that feel like a lifetime ago!).  'Henley' and 'Cappella' had moored in about 15 minutes ahead of us  'Footsteps' was already there - that’s Jim on a Fairline Weekender who couldn’t join us for the main outing due to work commitments, but wanted to just show his face when we were all together.  'JoJo' and 'Givenin' arrived with us, 'Buccaneer II' was there as well but wouldn’t stop, they were going to pop down by car later.  Then everyone else seemed to arrive all together, with the three ''mobile slaloms'' bringing up the rear.  Of those, 'Cabriolet' moored first and while 'Rebecca' was preparing to come-alongside and getting nicely lined up, 'Moonfleet' did a nifty turn and pinched their spot, to much cheering and cries of 'serves you right for *&^^% about'!

Finally we were all together again and it was time for the serious alcohol abuse to start.  Of course SOME of the party already had three hours in the Berney Arms under their belt.  Everyone was wandering up and down the quay looking at all the other boats, and hopping on and off.  Several times I started to make my way to the ferry to see Vic (who's my Dad as well as the ferry driver and the owner of 'Atriona') and every time I was most pleasantly waylaid in conversation.  Eventually I did catch up with my dad, who thrust a car-key at me, saying 'the petrol's in the back' - this was for Anthony on 'Moonfleet' to top up his tank.  Good job Dad did get it, as even after the fill-up Anthony's petrol gauge was still showing half-a-tank - exactly what it was showing before the 8 gallons went in.  So we don't know how much there really was in there after the playing around at sea etc, quite possibly not very much!    At one point we saw 'Jasmara' turn up which was lovely - another of our leaflet-drops had worked.  They moored at the top of the quay, then moved down to raft up next to Spirit and join the chatter there - we had a bit of party going on with loads of people aboard from various boats - they just kept piling on!  And those that couldn’t get aboard, chatted on the quayside. Mr and Mrs Parry arrived too, (the owners of ‘Buccanneer II’) and they had a look over Spirit as well.  Adam from ‘Givenin’ was in our cockpit at the time, and as this lady clambered aboard he reminded her that her car was due for a service, he’d not long sold it to her!  This club seems to consist almost entirely of salesmen, policemen and soldiers!    The afternoon passed in a haze of alcohol and conversation.  Unfortunately we didn’t get the names of the folk on ‘Jasmara’, but there was a little boy who'd brought a branch aboard with him, which was propped up against the steering wheel.  This prompted all kinds of comments about 'twigs' and radio reception etc - I suppose you had to be there….

Steve from 'Rebecca' was making his way steadily up the quay, letting everyone know that the time of the meal had been changed from 7.30 to 7pm at the request of the pub - they had another large group at 8 so it just made it a bit easier for them,  At this time it was about 6, and by the time the hordes left Spirit it was 6.45.  We've never got that canopy up so quick in its life - we were a whirl of activity!  Then it was a quick wash and brush up, got changed, and we actually made it into the pub by about five past seven which was pretty good going.  

Going by the comments we received, a good evening was had by all.  The food was good, stories were being swapped all over the place and everyone was buzzing after their days experiences - & it was as if sandpaper had been taken to all our senses.   And we received a really nice compliment from the staff at the Ferry as well - evidently every other time they've had clubs of boats go there someone has got out of hand, or been loud etc.  In their opinion we are the best-behaved group on the river!

After our meal, a few folk went to bed, but the rest of us just moved down the quay to 'Beagle' where we were celebrating Mikes birthday.   For our own part, we left them going strong at about a quarter past midnight.

 

 

Monday 31st May

Well we might not have been the last abed, but we were the first up.   Steve brought me tea in bed at ten to six and announced that he had been about since five and had taken pictures of the boats all along the quay.  It was a beautiful morning and we sat there in the sunshine, listening to Glenn Miller, feeding the ducks and waiting for the world to wake up - magical.

While it was all quiet and there was no-one watching we took our bunch of bananas and placed them on 'Cappella' – evidently they got flung straight overboard!

Eventually life started to appear on our neighbours' boats and suddenly the quay was awash with people and it was as if we were back at yesterday afternoon again.  We did finally manage to marshal everyone for a couple of group photographs, then all of a sudden people started to disappear.  Adam and Lynda left to go and get Daniella and once they went people just filtered off everywhere.  We were the last boat to leave the quay and as we pulled away, the engine gave a familiar judder and we were back where we started.  'Henley', 'Cappella' and 'Atriona' had left together about half an hour before so we gave them a call up.  They were only at Cantley so said they would hold station there for us.  We were driving along on the extreme edge of the river so that if the engine should give out we could grab a clump of reeds or something.  We were inching along the river, when we turned a corner and saw the wondrous sight of 'Henley' who had turned back for us.  It was such a relief to see them; they escorted us to Cantley where all four of us moored up while yet again Steve changed the points and condenser out.  The only difference that doing that made this time was that it allowed us to cruise at up to four miles an hour - anything over that and the engine cut out.  So we made a leisurely, law-abiding pace back to Brundall and actually did manage a few laughs along the way.  Mostly when being overtaken by a big boat called 'Moonshadow' at which Dave called Colin who was up ahead (see, the ignominy of following a yacht!) to tell him he was 'about to be followed by a moonshadow'.  Well it was funny at the time. 

We were sad bunnies as we moored into Brundall.  We didn’t know at the time what the problem was with Spirit, but she was definitely on the sick list.  It looked seriously like a replacement engine was on the cards, but that meant a serious amount of money, and a fair amount of time off the river right in the season.  Happily, editing this with the benefit of a week’s hindsight, the problem has been resolved and we are looking forward to the rest of our season.

 

The weekend was wonderful, it was all and more that we ever hoped it could be.  From the outset we planned on there being five boats, had hopes for maybe nine or ten but to have fifteen boats participate in a first rally of a small club, we think is fantastic.  To everyone who participated - thank you.  To everyone who would like to participate in the next one - get your name down quick, and start saving for your booze bill!

 

Barbara & Steve

Spirit of Avalon